Our chalice lighting every Sunday ends with this promise we make to one another: “To dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love, and to help (to care for) one another.” 

In other words, we care for one another at First Universalist Church. We care about living our values and beliefs. We care about being engaged in the needs of the world and we care deeply about one another. Over the years, we have developed a ministry of the church that extends care services to its members in a variety of ways. We provide rides to the doctor, meal trains for families in a crisis, and grief kits when a loved one dies. Another important service is one offered by our Care Companions. Care Companions are trained individuals matched with a careseeker in the congregation that needs someone to talk with on a semi regular basis. 

But care is not limited to trained professionals and trained volunteers. There are dozens of ways to care for one another and those in our community, and dozens of ways to be cared for. At its core, care is about compassion, the root of which means to “suffer with.” Care and compassion move us beyond sympathy to deep and profound empathy, to understanding and sharing the feelings of another, to suffering and rejoicing with another human being. This is the heart of caring. This month, we will explore the rich ground of how we give and receive care, and how we can take care of ourselves, avoiding burnout and caregiving fatigue.